Walker Hayes on His Headlining Arena Tour: ‘It Feels Like Walker & Friends’

Walker Hayes has a handful of shows under his belt on his newly launched Duck Buck (taken from a lyric from the title track to his album Country Stuff) headlining arena tour, which started April 13 in Rosemont, Illinois. This 24-show tour marks Hayes’ second headlining arena trek, with opening acts throughout the tour including Ingrid Andress, Breland, Ray Fulcher, Nicolle Galyon and Chris Lane.

In speaking with Billboard, it’s clear that the family-oriented, welcoming vibe that Hayes conveys daily to his more than four million followers on TikTok and Instagram readily extends to his touring family on the road.

“Every night, I introduce my band,” Hayes tells Billboard via phone. “Nick Schumtte plays guitar, and then Mark [DeJaynes] plays bass and his brother Luke plays drums. Some of them were playing with me when I was performing at Puckett’s [Restaurant] like 10 years ago.”

That road from playing Puckett’s to headlining arenas has been both rocky and revitalizing for Hayes, an Alabama native who moved to Nashville nearly 20 years ago. His path as a singer-songwriter has involved multiple false starts, failed record deals and balancing writing songs with paying the bills via holding down a job at Costco. But there were positive milestones, too: he earned his first top 40 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart with the 2011 release “Pants” (released via former label home Capitol Records Nashville); a chance meeting with songwriter-producer Shane McAnally led Hayes to his current label home, Monument Records, which McAnally and Jason Owen relaunched in 2017. Hayes continued to earn a smattering of tunes that landed near or in the top 40 on Hot Country Songs, but he didn’t land his first top 10 hit on the chart 2018 with “You Broke Up With Me.”

But propelling Hayes to these massive arena stages is a pair of electric chart hits: In 2021, Hayes’ “Fancy Like” reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the song of the summer and dominating the Hot Country Songs pinnacle for 24 weeks. “Fancy Like” also earned Hayes his first Grammy nomination. He followed with “AA,” which reached No. 3 on Hot Country Songs and No. 28 on the Hot 100.

“Every night, we stand up there onstage, and I just think about how far we’ve come together and I wouldn’t trade a single moment,” Hayes says of his bandmates.

Billboard caught up with Hayes to discuss the tour production and choreography on this outing, making the tour a family affair, and what he’s learned from artists including Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney and Imagine Dragons.

How has the stage production changed for the Duck Buck Tour?

With the last show, “Bigger is better” was kind of the concept, because it was our first arena show. What we learned is my band and I prefer to be closer together onstage. The reason we learned that is we had a few festival shows sprinkled in there where we couldn’t have our regular tour stage. We noticed our camaraderie and chemistry was more magical when we were closer in proximity, and that fed out to the crowd.

So this year, instead of having three screens, we combined those into one screen and made the stage smaller. But we also were given more thrust area into the crowd, and more runways to walk. Everybody on my team loves an opportunity to high five someone in the audience or get out there in the middle of the crowd.

With the Duck Buck tour, you also ramped up the dancing and choreography.

We have four dancers — Nikki Mele, Samual Mulligan, Andrew Rincon and my daughter Lela — and they are all amazing. I love the moments in the show when they take the stage, front and center, and I can just stand back and watch. They are so talented, and they are some of the best athletes and entertainers.

You have always been so family-oriented, and you bring fans into your family life on social media. What has it been like having Lela as a dancer on this tour?

Lela worked hard for that position. I mean, obviously she knew someone and she got that opportunity, but she kept it herself. I can be hard on my kid — I don’t like giving them handouts. She’s 17, and dancing with three pros, but she’s hanging with them and she’s had to work hard and be responsible. [Hayes’ wife] Laney and I went to New York a few weeks ago, to see Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark’s musical Shucked. We live about an hour and a half outside of Nashville, and for five days, Lela had to drive herself and be there at 7:00 a.m., and rehearse for several hours, come home, practice more and then get up the next day and do it all again.

Breland and Ingrid Andress are among your openers for this tour. Why did you select them to be part of this outing?

I’m so inspired by both of them, and I want to give my fans something special — not something just run of the mill. They both are so incredible and have such clearly defined lanes. They are excellent writers and performers.

Me and my kids, we go out and watch their sets every night. We’re side stage, bouncing along to [Breland’s] “My Truck” and singing Sam [Hunt]’s part to “Wishful Drinking” side stage when Ingrid is singing it. Right now, it’s not just a Walker show; it feels more like “Walker and Friends.” Some of my heroes in performing are Jimmy Buffett and Kenny Chesney. I love their music and, in a way, their shows remind me of something like Mardi Gras — it’s so happy and you show up and get exposed to other people’s music and by the end of the night, everybody’s singing along with a guy who’s basically hosting a party.

Have you gotten a chance to write with Breland or Ingrid?

Breland and I are looking for the right thing — what can we do together that makes sense? I love the way Breland’s music feels and I’d love to work with him. I’m pretty sure we’ll find something before this tour is over.

What has been another concert you have learned from?

I’m a massive Imagine Dragons fan. I went to see them at [Nashville’s] Bridgestone Arena probably six years ago. They started their set with “Radioactive,” and it was so electric. One thing I took from them was just this relentless energy. Once they hit the stage, they don’t stop. They just play like it’s going to be their last show. J

ust watching that, I hope I get onstage with that mentality, always. There can be some nights on the road where you think, “I don’t sound great tonight,” or, “I don’t feel great tonight.” But I’ve noticed that your audience reflects your attitude. I try not to sweat those fears, those insecurities that all artists have. I just try to be myself, because I feel like that’s what people came to see. They don’t want a robot; they want to see the guy that they see on socials every day.